Cord and article made of cord



Oct. 11, 1938.

Y J. ANDERSON ET AL CORD ANDjA-RTICLE MADE OF CORD Filed April l2, 1938 Patented, Oct. 11, 1938 2,133,011 v 'conn am) MADE vor 'conn John Andersom simon onlan'em, and Melon gUNITED STATES Iangstreth, Rochdale, England, assign orsto Dunlop Rubber Company limited, London,

England, a British Company Application April- 12, 1938, Serial No. 01,512

In Greatritain March 25, 1937 Our inventionl relates to impro'yements in cord,

that is, lamentary articlesv made by twisting fibers together, land also to methods of makingvv cord. The invention also comprises improvements in articles or materials made from or incorporating cord as, for example, the building of pneumatic tires.

In the making of cord ofthe type to which our present invention relates single" yarn vor singles is made by afspinning operation in which the carded bers are twisted to form the elementary or starting laments. A number of singles thus formed are then twisted together, forming strands, which strands may then be twisted or combined with other strands to fom cords or larger strands which may thereafter be further combined incase cords 'of larger dimensions are required. v

In cords heretofore made it has been custo-` mary to reverse the twists given in each successive stage of the buildingof the cord. The: 'amount offtwisting given to each cord 'and which is termed contributory twisting is the amount of twisting done on the cord in the various twistbuilding of the cord so that the finished cord ing operations, irrespective of the directionv of twist. `'I'he amount of twist present in the cord after the final twisting operation is completed isknown as total twist.

In-contradistinctlon to prior cords and methods of making the same, our present invention provides a cord inwhich three orfmore twisting operations of the cord'are all in one direction,

that is, in which, for example, the spinning of the singles, the twisting of the singles into astrand'and the twisting of the strandsinto a -cord are all accomplished with a uni-directional twist, there being at least three such twisting operations in vone direction. These three twisting operations may be consecutive,y they may start with the spinning, or they may finish withV the iinal three twisting operations, or they may comprise any combination of the original and iinal twisting operations; Inasmuch as cords. composed of elements all of which have been v twisted'in one direction have. less resistance 'to untwisting, the twists in the various elements 'of the cord are subjected to a setting treatment to holdthem in their twisted positions and'to prevent or resist the untwisting ofY the strands vor oord elements. The cord may also be given a stretch, either upon completion or A'dining' the will have less residual stretch.

In our invention less vcontributory required to achieve a givenstrength or expansibility, or both, rthan' in priorvmethods using reverse twists, inasmuch a's each of the three or more twisting operations contributes -to the total twist without negativing any of the twisting whims is .previously impartedor imparted by the formation of previous elements.

In a typical embodiment of our invention, for

example, single yarns are made by twisting carded -fibers in a given direction. Five such single yarns made of twisted fibers are then twisted same direction to form a iifteenfo'ld tire c'ord. In this method there are, therefore, three twisting operations, the rst being the spinning of the fibers into single yarn, second the doublingv of thesin'gle yarn tomake the composite yarn and third, the cabling of the compositeI yarn to make the final cord. In this method itis evident that inasmuch as the twist is in the same direction for'all three operations, the act of inserting a twist'in each operation as, for example,

in thelast operation or twist, will'contribute to thev twist;v already present from the preceding operation or twist as, `for' example, in the rst 1 'together to form a live-fold yarn. vThree such ve-fold yarns are then twisted together in thetwoV operations or Accordingly, less serted in the: rst two twists or operations. The uni-directional twisting as in -our` invention, therefore, avoids an over-plus of twisting such as has heretofore been necessary.. This not only Y reduces manufacturing costs, but also improves the quality of the cord inasmuch as it reduces energy lossand 'increases the resistance to fatigue. f

The following is an example of theI twisting operation ofa cord formed according to ,our inventionand a corresponding cord formed by the 'conventional methods heretofore used:

' Y .Convention- Il n oved n ,T wisting operation alconi,twist -co ,twist t s l 1 pei-inch per inch i spinning las 'las 116 8.5 '9.5 `8.5

proved cord involves much less contributory twist than'the conventional cord but, neverthe- -less," the strength and extensibility, which deall three operations are in- Atwisting than that nally requiredv can-be inf pend upon the total'twist, are substantially the Same -in both y` It shuldbe noted be 'calculated simply by giving .a positive 818D. t0 the twist in one direction and a negative Bim to that the total twist cannot i treatment applied either during or subsequently to the production of the cord. This setting treat-5 g ment may be cembinediwith treatments of the:

cord forother purposes.' For example; it may comprisethe treatment vwith adhesives whichY Imay form-an element lof an article for which the cord is used. In cord-fabrics for tiresffor example, the cords are coated in web formation with a plastic rubber mixture. We may utilize this rubberizing as a setting treatment in our process or, for example, the setting may be effected by soaking the cords in a liquid rubberY mixture, or otler suitable agent, su'cl as gum arabic. 4 Another method of setting the cords may be accomplished by steaming finder sub-atmospheric pressure or otherwise. 'lhis has the effect of setting the cord suciently to enable ity to be readilyghandled during? the operations to which it may be subsequently submitted.

To produce la low. stretchl cord, that is, one which'iloes net stretchyery much in use, the cord maybe subjected to a stretching treatment applied either before or after setting, A 'cord embedylngrthe invention is shown by Way of example in the accompanyingV drawing, in Wmchl Y v 'E I 1;

Fig. 1 is a lengthof cord having one end frayed out to show the' different elements of' the .cord and their direetion of twisting. s Fig. 2 is a cross section taken on the line 2--2 of Fig; 1. l j .l In this embodiment of the invention the cor3 is made up ef a braid of combinations 4 of strands 5, eachY of which is in turn vformed of iibers g 6. Inv the embodiment shown, the cord is made up of three separate combinations, but it will be understood that any desired number may be employed. Similarly, each combination is shown as made up o three strands, but it will be understoodthat this is only Aby way of illustration and that .any number of strands -may be combined in each combination. In each of the strands 5 the individual fibers 6 are twisted in a right handed` or cleekwise direction. Each of the strands 5 thus formed is in turn twisted in a clockwise direction to form'the combination 4,. The combinations of strands are; then twisted lagain in a clockwise or right handed direction, forming the iinished cord'3. It will be understood, however, 4thata left handed or counter-clockwise twisting maybe employed provided it is employed throughout, that is, for the fibers 6,'strands 5 andthe combinations of strands 4.

What we 'claim is:;- l Y 1. A cord formed of' single yarns of iibers twisted in one direction, a plurality of said single yarns beingcombiniedand twisted in the same direction asihe twist of said single yarns to form strands, anda lplurality of said @strands being twisted together to form the cord, the direction f said final twist being the same aslthat of said` single yarns and of said strands.

. 2. lA cord formedVv of single Vyarns of fibers twisted in one direction, a piuraiity of 4said single yarns being combined and twistedlin the same direction as thetwis; of said single yarns to form strands, a plurality Yafi-said strands b-eingtwisted together to form the cord, the direction of said 2,1'sao71 final vtwist being the sameas that of said single yarns and of said strands, and the twists in said several elements being set to resist the untwisting thereof.

3.11. cord formed of single yarns of fibers twisted in one direction, a plurality of said single yarnslbein'g combined and twisted in the same direction as the twist of said single yarns to forin strands, and a plurality of strands being twisted together to fermv the cord, thedirection of said iinal' twist being the same as that of said 'single yarns and of said strands, the twists of said elements being set by rubber composition incorporated therein to resist the untwisting thereof.

li. lA cord Yformed of single yarns of fibers vtwisted inl one direction, a plurality of'said single yarns being combined and -twisted iii the same direction as the twist of said 'single yarns tol form strands, and Y a p1urality^of said strands being twisted together to ferm the cord, the direction of lsaid nal twist being the same as that of said single yarns and of said strands, the vvarious ele-v ments of saii cord being set by steaming tornresist the untwisting thereof.

. 557A cord fabric for tires comprisingvcords, eiach of said cords in turn comprising singleY cords made by twisting fibers in one direction, double strands vformed by twisting a plurality of said singles in the same direction as the twist imparted to said singles and having several of Ysaid doublev elements twisted together inf the same direction as the twist of said singlesand double elements.

6. A metliodoiI making cords .which comprises forming jcord elements by twisting fibrous materials to form singles, combining several of isaid. singles in a twisting operation in theE same direction of twist as that of said singles, and. combining the elements thus formed -by twisting in the same directionof .twist as said singles to forma cord. l

7. 'A process of forming a cord which comprises twisting cerd forming material. into elements, twisting a number of elements thus formed into combinations, and successively twisting the combinations thus formed into successively larger combinations, there being a total off'at least three twistings, all of said twist-ing operations being accomplished with the same direction of twist.

8. The-method ef c1aim"7 in which the uni,- directional twisting operatiens comprise theY final three operations.

9. A precess of forming cord which comprises.

'accomplished with the same direction of twist,

and setting the twists of said cord. 10. The; process of claim 9 in which saidsetting is accompiishedby steaming. i

11. The process of claim 9 in which said setting isaccomplished by an adhesive agent.

12. The process of claim 9 invsfhichv said setting is accomplished by incorporating in said 'cord a' rubber composition. r p

13. The process of claim 9 in which said cords are subjected to a stretching operation before being formed into the fabric. y

. JQHN ANDRSON. MELoN LANGSTRETH. 

